Fired city employee suing District for defamation
A former city employee can't sue the District for firing him after he raised concerns about Mayor Adrian Fenty's twin sons playing youth basketball in the wrong age group, but he can sue the city for defamation on claims a city official spread the rumor that Michael Williams was fired for embezzlement, the District's highest court has ruled.
Williams was hired to run the city's youth basketball leagues in January 2008. A year later, he and his staff received a number of complaints that Fenty's twin sons were playing in the "Pee Wee" group when they should have been with the older "Pony" division. Williams claims he alerted the mayor and his staff, but was told Fenty was aware of the violation and he wanted his sons to continue in the Pee Wee division.
When Williams pressed the issue, he was fired, according to the lawsuit he filed in April 2009. The lawsuit alleged the city had violated the Whistleblower Protection Act by firing Williams for shedding light on an issue of public interest. He also alleged the city had defamed him when officials spread the rumor that he was fired for embezzlement.
The D.C. Court of Appeals threw out the allegations that the city violated the Whistleblower act, in part because the public had informed Williams of the Fenty sons' violation, and therefore he had not provided any information the public didn't already know. The appeals court, however, determined Williams can sue for defamation.
A Fenty spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment.
On Feb. 23, 2009, then-director of the department of parks and recreation Clark Ray told Williams he was fired because of budgetary reasons. When Williams pressed Ray for the cause, Ray reportedly said, "you are smart and can figure it out," Williams' lawsuit says.
A month later, Williams testified to the D.C. Council that he had been fired out of retaliation for taking issues with Fenty's sons violating the league's rules. Soon after, Williams claims a "senior official of the District of Columbia government ... initiated the publication of the false rumor" that Williams had been fired for embezzlement. Williams was never charged with the crime.
Although the lawsuit doesn't name the official, the appeals court said Williams has the right to use the trial process to find out who it was and then focus his lawsuit on that individual.
fklopott@washingtonexaminer.com
http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/2010/12/fired-city-employee-suing-district-defamation
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